


Midnight Archery

by Aly_H



Category: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Brooding, Denerim (Dragon Age), Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Nobility, Post-Game, court life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 05:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18046781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aly_H/pseuds/Aly_H
Summary: Arl Evander Tabris engages in some midnight archery while brooding during one of his visits to Denerim. Nathaniel Howe comes to cheer his lover up.From the prompt: “Your hair keeps falling into your eyes, do you know that? Here, lemme just—”





	Midnight Archery

Van breathed out slow and steady, took his aim, and then released. The arrow burrowing itself into the target at the far end of the shooting yard with perfect precision.

It’d been a long day.

Most days when he was Arl of Amaranthine were. Especially those days that brought him to the palace at Denerim and away from the Vigil.

The one advantage was that he got to visit his family, that visit hadn’t gone well.

His family had an abundance of strong, opinionated elves. And when one put too many vocally opinioned people in the same room it was often spectacular. Not always in the fortunate sense.

Particularly not when your baby cousin decides to get her feelings regarding Warden Loghain Mac Tir’s fate ‘off her chest’ with the sort of no-holds barred viciousness that only someone you’ve spent eighteen years sleeping a five feet away from can manage. At least he knew Bann Shianni could hold her own against the rest of the nobility.

Another arrow. Knock. Draw. Aim. Fire.

He could shoot far quicker than he was.

Even by the slim light of the barely there moon hanging overhead. He’d certainly spent enough time firing at moving targets in the dark of the Deep Roads – and in Denerim’s dark alleyways and sewers long before Duncan had stolen him off the gallows.

Loose strands of his hair wisped into his vision and for now he opted to ignore them in favor of swinging his bow around on the footsteps that approached him from behind. His mysterious watcher had finally decided to leave the safety of the doorway.

The intruder raised his hands up in surrender, a brow quirked up.

“That’s not very friendly of you.”

The elf snorted and lowered the bow, returning the arrow to where it had been stuck head first into the ground with its siblings, a grin pulling on his lips, “Well, you’ve obviously been listening to too much court gossip if you think _I’m_ friendly, Nate.”

The low chuckle from the human did a lot to soothe the tension from Van’s shoulders. He hadn’t even realized how tense he’d gotten, lost in his thoughts as he was.

 “Your hair keeps falling in your eyes, do you know that?” Nathaniel sighed.

Van laughed – as if _that_ was the problem with finding his Commander barefoot, in night clothes, in the most deserted archery yard at the palace in the middle of night. He might’ve said something too except Nate beat him to it:

“Here, let me-”

Van let out a startled _‘Yeeap_ ’ sound and jerked back half an inch before he realized what Nate was doing by reaching his hands forward. His cheeks warmed fast enough he was _certain_ even if Nate couldn’t see the blush in the dark he’d feel the heat radiating off them.

 _Smooth, Van, real smooth,_ he admonished himself mentally.

Nate must’ve seen the blush or guessed what was going through his head since he chuckled softly but remained otherwise quiet about the undignified yelp.

Gentle fingers braided the front part of his hair back so that it wouldn’t fall loose in his face the way it had been every time the breeze picked it up.

With that done Nate’s gray eyes studied his face more carefully, his fingertips dropping down his cheek. Warm against his night-chilled skin. He tilted his head into the touch, closing his eyes.

“You’re freezing,” Nate’s voice was a low murmur – a touch of disapproval in his tone – as he set his other hand on Van’s hip and pulled the elf closer to him.

“Mmm? And what’re you going to do about it?” he grinned up, hazel eyes sparkling with new-found laughter. He was an idiot – and should’ve gone and found where Nate had hidden himself away at in the first place.

Nate moved half a step back, a quick calculation going behind his sharp gray eyes, turned silver in the light.

“This.”

And then the world tilted wildly as Van found himself hoisted up onto his lover’s shoulder with all the grace of a wriggling sack of potatoes. He couldn’t help laughing a bit at the absurdity of it, but his ‘struggle’ to escape was hardly real.

Nate grunted a little under the weight and readjusted the weight of his captured, giggly elf – jolting the Warden-Commander into momentary silence.

“Ass!”

“So I’ve been informed,” he couldn’t see Nate’s smile from his utterly graceless position draped over his shoulder but he could hear the smile in the other’s voice.

He laughed again, “Yeah, but I still love you.”

Nate’s hand on his thigh holding him in place tightened briefly and then they were off through the palace. It was the middle of the night. Dignity was overrated.


End file.
